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Rail (bird)

Rails and Crakes
Eurocoot.JPG
European Coot
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae

The Rails and Crakes are a group of small birds mainly associated with wetlands, although the Corncrake [?] breeds on farmland. They are omnivorous, and migrate at night: most nest in dense vegetation.

They will run and walk on strong legs and big toes, but appear weak fliers on round wings. Island species often become flightless.

Many reed bed species are secretive, apart from loud calls, and crepuscular, and have laterally flattened bodies. In the Old World, long billed species tend to be called “rails” and short billed species “crakes”. American species are normally called rails irrespective of bill length.

The larger species are also sometimes given other names. The black coots are more open water than their relatives, and some other large species are called gallinules.

Taxonomy

Traditionally the rails and crakes in the order Rallidae have been grouped with two families of large birds, the cranes and the bustards in the order Gruiformes . The new Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy which has been widely accepted in America, raises this family to order level as the Galliformes.

New research suggests that the ducks and gallinaceous birds are each other's closest relatives and together form the basal lineage of neognathous birds. The ratites and tinamous will now be followed by the ducks and their allies, and then the rails and crakes.

Galloanseri.png.

The relationships with similar groups are shown below:

Gruiformes

Species list

Family: Rallidae

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